WASHINGTON, Dec. 15- Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Bart Chilton released a statement yesterday indicating that although the MF Global investigation is progressing, the ultimate location of missing customer funds is still a mystery.
"Press reports indicate that the CFTC knows the ultimate landing spot of all MF Global customer funds,” said Chilton in his statement. “While I will not discuss the specifics of the investigation, based upon the most up-to-date information available, I do not have confidence that we know where all the money went.”
According to various press reports, Commissioner Jill Sommers, leader of the CFTC’s MF Global investigation, told Reuters that regulators “are far enough along the trail” that they know where the money went.
“Now it’s just finding out which ones of those transactions are legitimate and which ones of them are illegitimate,” she reportedly said.
However, Chilton used more cautionary language in his statement, and indicated that conclusions cannot be made at this stage.
“Our staff has been working exceedingly hard and they have visuals into many aspects of this investigation, including transfers of some customer funds,” Chilton said in the release. “That said, a thorough accounting of all customer funds has not been completed and remains a work in progress. We all want a resolution to the ultimate destination of customer money, and we want it returned as soon as possible to the rightful owners. At the same time, the investigation and any potential litigation should only come about after an exhaustive and particularly thorough accounting of the whereabouts and circumstances related to the transfer of customer funds."
Dan Berkovitz, General Counsel for the CFTC will testify at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on the collapse of MF Global this afternoon.
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